Wire stretcher and reeling machine.



Patented Feb. 4, |902.

No. 692,1i2.

G. S. & W. D. AUSTIN.

WIRE STRETCHER AND BEELING MACHlNE.

(Application filed May 10, 1901.)

(No Modal.)

r I l ergzys IlNTTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE S. AUSTIN AND WILLIAM D.

AUSTIN, OF CERULEAN, KENTUCKY.

WIRE STRETCHER AND REELING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 692,413, datedFebruary 4, 1902.

Application filed May l0, 1901.

To @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Beitknown that we, GEORGE S. AUSTIN and WILLIAM D. AUSTIN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Cerulean, in the county of Trigg andState of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Wire Stretcher andReeling Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire stretching and reeling machines; and theobjects of the same are to provide a device ot this class which can beeither manually drawn and cout-rolled or have a horse or other animalattached thereto, to provide a machine of this class which can bereadily adjusted to adapt it for stretching wires at differentelevations without requiring an adjustment of the individual partscomposing the same, to have such machine capable of readily receiving awirereeling spool which is used for feeding out the wire as desired ortaking up the slack wire or that not desired for use and to have thewire that is stretched run directly from said reel, to provide means foreasily replacing one reel by another without delay or causing theoperator to lift the same, and also to provide other convenientattachments that will fully equip the machine for general use in Wirestretching and wire reeling, so that fence building and repairing may berapidly carried on in an advantageous manner.

IVith these and other objects and advantages in view the inventionconsists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts, whichwill be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure lis a top plan View of a machine embodying thefeatures of the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same withone wheel removed. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line 33, Fig. 2. l

Similarnumerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts in the several views.

The numeral l designates opposite bars shaped to serve either ashand-bars formanual operation of the machine or as shafts or thills forbitching up ahorse or other animal thereto, the said .bars being securedin a suitable manner to an axle-beam 2, provided with an axle oraxle-stubs to give bearing to ground- Serial No. 59,666. (No model)wheels Secured to and passing over opposite portions of the axle-beamand the upper and lower portions of the bars l are combined braces andsupports et, consisting of doubled lengths of suitable bendable metalstraps having the two extremities of each engaging the axle-beam andbars, as set forth, and standing upwardly atan oblique angle to the rearends of the latter, as at 5, and also having upper terminal bends (i atan angle to the portions thereof immediately below. At the lowerterminals of the bends 6 bearing-seats 7 are formed in the obliqueportions ofthe combined braces and supports, and hinged to the upperends of the said bends are latch bars or keepers 8, which arecorrespondinglyshaped totit closely against the upper sides of theoblique portions 5 of the combined braces and supports and alsoagainstthe bends 6, the said bars or keepers having bends 9 therein to registerwith and complete the bearing-seats 7. The bars or keepers S aretemporarily held closed by bolts, pins, or the like engaging the freeends thereof and the adjacent portions of the braces or supports, as atlO, whereby the said bars or keepers may be thrown open at any timedesired. The supporting device of a wire-reel is adapted to be removablyand rotatably held in the said seats 7, andby throwing the combinedbraces and supports downwardly to the ground by properly tilting thebars l upwardly a loaded or filled reel may be readily disengaged fromor disposed ou the seats and held within the latter without requiringthe operator to lift said reels. The same .con rse can be pursued withem pty reels, and this operation will render the machine exceptionallyconvenient. The preferred form of reel shown comprises ashatt l1, whichis squared except at one end and a portion near the `opposite end, Whereit is reduced to form journals 12 to fit in the seats 7 to permitrotation of the same, but prevent movement thereof in a longitudinaldirection. On the said shaft a reel proper, 13, is removably applied, sothat it -can be slipped off the said shaft and another of similar formsubstituted therefor, and on the said shaft au auxiliary reel le isfixed, so that one of the heads or disks of the reel 13 will close oneend thereof. The shaft is adapted to be rotated by a handle or crank l5,removably applied t0 one IDO end thereof, and coacting with the saidshaft is a ratchet-and-pawl mechanism 16 to prevent back movement of thercel when Winding the Wire thereon during the stretching operation. Onthe reel 14 a cable 17 or the like is wound and has a gripping tool orimplement 18 attached thereto for engaging and stretching wires that arenot carried by the reel proper, and in the operation of the improvedmachine the length of wire desired is run off from the reel proper andthe slack then taken up by winding the Wire thereon and at the same timestretchingt-he Wire to the necessary degree of tautness. lowering thebars 1 the combined braces and supports will be correspondingly elevatedor depressed, and wires at different elevations may be operated upon, orafter the wire is held against movement onv the reel proper it may bedrawn tighterafter stretching bybearying downwardly on the bars 1, andthus elevate the braces and supports.

To hold the machine steady while manipulating or arranging the wire andto permit the operator to leave the machine, a clip 19 is looselyapplied to the axle-beam and has a cable 2O or the like attached theretoat one end and adjustably and removably connected at its opposite end toa notched post 21,which may be driven in the ground, as shown. Inconveying the machine for a long distance from one point to another thesaid post may also be employed for assisting in fastening the machine tothe rear portion of a wagon or other analogous device.

Theimproved deviceiscompleteinits equipment for conveniently carrying onfencebuilding and maybe readily transported from place to place.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. Amachine of the class set forth comprising opposite side bars attached toan axlebeam having wheelsthereon,combinedbraces By raising orv andsupports secured to the axle-beam and the rear portions of the bars andhaving upwardlyextending obliquely-arranged portions with bearing seatstherein, keepers hinged to the upper rear ends of said combined bracesand supports to close forwardly and downwardly over the said seats andcomplete the latter, and a reel removably supported in the said seats tohave a rotatable mo vement,the u pWardly-extending obliquelyarrangedportions of the combined braces and supports being adapted to be broughtdown to the ground-surface by tilting the axle-beam to permit an emptyreel to be removed and another filled one to be rolled over into placewithout lifting the same up to the normal position of saidobliquely-arranged portions.

2. A machine of the class set forth comprising opposite side barsattached to an axlebeam having wheels thereon,combined braces andsupports secured to the axle-beam and the rear ends ot the bars andformed with upwardly-projecting obliquely arranged portions, keepershinged tothe upper ends of said latter portions and adapted to closedown over the same, andareel rotatably and removably held between saidkeepers and the obliquelyarranged portions of the braces and supports,the upwardly-extending obliquely-arranged portions of the combinedbraces and supports being adapted to be brought down to theground-surface by tilting the axle-beam to permit an empty reel to beremoved and another lled one to be rolled over into place withoutlifting the same up to the normal position of said obliquely-arrangedportions.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing as our own we have hereuntoaffixed our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE S. AUSTIN. WILLIAM D. AUSTIN.

Vitnesses:

J. M. BEVUM, N. B. PoLLARD.

